


The Next Time Round

by Araine



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Exalted
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-02 06:51:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10211960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Araine/pseuds/Araine
Summary: Vex'ahlia and Vax'ildan rescue a very strange prisoner from a Nexus jail cell.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The extremely specific AU that probably only I have interest in, melding my two very favorite tabletop things. Lunar/Solar bonds are my favorite things. (Or in this case, Lunar/Infernal bonds??? It's complicated.)

The Nexus jail cell was a filthy wreck. Vex’s sense of smell revolted at the stench of standing water, mildew and human waste. She had taken point for their motley band which for this venture did not include the two Solars because they were both-- rather conspicuous in their own way. Beside her Trinket groaned and Vex winced, wondering how much worse her bear must experience these smells. Her boot squelched in something unrecognizable. Vex made a face, and prayed that she had not just stepped in shit. These boots were new-ish. 

“Brother,” Vex said, sickeningly sweet. “The Clasp is really starting to become a pain in the behind.” 

The Clasp was one of the many gangs of thieves that had the run of Nexus, a thieves paradise. Vax had been one of them once, right after the both of them had Exalted, which made dealing with them kind of a pain in the ass. They couldn’t exactly say no when a Lunar decided he was done with gangs but they could make any future dealings unpleasant. 

“Do you really expect me to disagree with that?” Vax asked. Vex sighed and shook her head. “The sooner we get through this the sooner Spireling Shenn introduces us to his Guilt contacts and we can be on our way.” 

“How did you get involved in the Clasp anyways?” Keyleth asked, coming up behind Vax. 

“It’s a long story,” Vax said. 

Vex rolled her eyes. “Just drop it Keyleth-- he won’t even tell me. It’s something to do with how he Exalted.” 

Neither Vex nor Vax had ever told one another about their Exaltations. It was maybe the only thing the twins had not shared with each other. Vex could still recall perfectly that iron cage, the feeling of being helpless, then grabbing the poacher’s knife and butchering him with it and the rush of divine power that flowed through her as she did. She’d stumbled home with a bear cub and the blessing of Luna and no way to explain either to her brother only to find that he had secrets of his own he wished to keep. 

“Oh,” Keyleth said, looking doe-eyed at Vax. “Well I’m always curious about other Lunars-- I’d love to hear it.” 

“Maybe later,” was all that Vax said, which was more than Vex had ever gotten out of her twin concerning his Exaltation. 

Vex’ahlia’s mentor had told her and Vax that the proper term for a group of Lunars working together was a “pack”. Vex wasn’t fully sold on the idea that Keyleth and Grog behind her were pack material but they’d been in a few scrapes together and she’d started to slowly trust them. Keyleth was one of those sweetness-and-light, we all must come together to protect Gaia type of Lunars. She’d gotten very excited about all of the Lunars going on an adventure together. 

Grog Strongjaw was, on the other hand, the fight everything and ask questions later type of Lunar. He had already handily dispatched the guards of this tiny prison, turning into a hulking creature that was part-man part-hippopotamus and all-destruction and tearing them apart like they were tissue paper. Vex hadn’t even had to draw her bow. 

“Hey guys,” he said, waving at a dark spot not illuminated by the dim torchlight. “I think there’s another floor down here.” 

Vex walked over to investigate. There was indeed a rickety ladder leading down another level into pitch blackness. The mildew was worse down there but the scent of human excrement less so. Vex could just barely see stale water shining down at the bottom. 

“Me and Vax will go down,” she decided, glancing around at the small group. “You and Keyleth search and see if you can find a desk or a satchel or-- somewhere else where they might keep papers here.” 

Trinket whined, a plaintive what-about-me noise. 

“Trinket can stay up here with us,” Keyleth suggested. She scratched Trinket under the chin and the bear readily accepted the affection. “Don’t you want to stick with us, Trinket?” 

Trinket growled happily. Vex waved her bear on.

Trinket lumbered off after Keyleth and Grog to search the rest of the floor. Vex took a deep breath and leaped down the hole rather than trust her weight to the rotting ladder. She landed with a satisfying splash, spraying stale water everywhere. 

It was pitch black down in the hole, the torchlight from up above illuminating only a tiny circle around Vex. She put two fingers to her forehead and concentrated. The area blazed, lit up by moonlight a hundred times stronger than the brightest full moon emanating from Vex’s forehead. It lit up another long bank of cells. 

With the light came an itch at the back of Vex’s feet. Keep walking, it said, the physical need to keep moving forward almost overpowering. Just a little further. 

Vex, seeing no reason to ignore this inner urge and needing to give Vax room for the jump down, continued further into the prison. She did not run forwards as her feet were telling her. Vex had spent her time cultivating good sense and she wasn’t about to go running into the unknown. 

“What do you see down there?” Vax’s voice echoed from up above. “Do you see any papers?” 

“No papers!” Vex called back. “Come join me down here, it’s very lovely!” 

“Quit pulling my leg.” 

“No really, it’s like the Imperial Palace down here! Silk sheets and gold leaf and servants carrying exotic fruits on platters! The Empress would be jealous of this place.” 

“Haha,” Vax said sarcastically. It was accompanied by a strangled laugh in the darkness. 

Vex went perfectly still, looking for where that laugh came from. Water drip-drip-dripped in the long silence. “Is someone there?” she called loudly. 

“You’re looking for paperwork, aren’t you?” a voice said at last out of the darkness. Male, cultured, with maybe a hint of a Northern accent? “I’ll help you find it if you let me out of here.” 

Vex crept forward, one tiny footstep at a time, on guard for anything. She wouldn’t put it past the Clasp to get the jump on them by making them put their guard down for a prisoner. But something-- something that she couldn’t have explained if she were asked-- said that this wasn’t the case. The light of her caste mark illuminating everything with a pale glow, Vex rounded the corner and peered into the jail cell. 

The man inside was filthy, covered top to toe in dirt, so that Vex couldn’t even see what color his coat was. His shock of white hair was plastered to his forehead by a steady drip of water from above, and he’d retreated to the only dry patch of floor. Vex’s first thought was pity. She’d seen plenty of wretchedness in this wretched city, but he just looked so miserable. 

The man in the cell looked up and his blue eyes met Vex’s. 

Vex just stared. She was rooted to the spot, could not move if she tried. Something deep in her soul shifted, turned, came right. 

She found herself lost in memory she’d never had. A workshop full of ancient tools she had no names for but which were intimately familiar, leaning over an oak workbench that smelled of soot and chemicals. The remembered smell was so strong it overpowered the stagnant water smell of the cell. The man in the workshop wore a different face but he was the same man. 

A hand on her shoulder jolted Vex out of-- whatever that was. 

“Vex?” Vax asked, concerned. “Are you alright?” 

Vex blinked and she was fine and whatever strangeness that had come over her looking at the man in the cell was gone. “Yes, fine,” she said. “Can you get this lock? He says he knows where the papers we’re looking for are.” 

The man in the cell nodded. “Yes,” he said, some bit of that urbane charm disturbed. Vex wondered if he’d experienced just the same strangeness she had. “I can show you to where they’re kept if you’d open the cell. I’d like to get out, if I can.” 

Vax frowned, sizing up the stranger. Vex also took another long look at him, wondering just what about him had triggered such a strong reaction. Whatever it was had ebbed. 

“Look, I hope you don’t mind if we have you walk in front of us,” Vax said darkly. “We’re not very trusting folk lately.” 

The man in the cell nodded. “I understand,” he said. “You’re Exalts, aren’t you? That’s not a fight I want to pick-- not that I was thinking of it in the first place, mind you.” 

Vex raised an eyebrow, surprised that he’d used the proper term instead of the more popular “anathema”. He didn’t recoil from the brand burning on Vex’s forehead either, instead seeming quite comfortable with the concept. Most people in Nexus would work with Anathema if the price was right, but there was usually a visual discomfort. 

“That’s right,” Vax said. “So don’t try anything.” 

Vex watched as her brother pulled out his lockpicks. The white haired man in the cell remained towards the back wall, but he leaned unconsciously towards the door, towards freedom. At last the iron door swung open with a creak. 

The white haired man exited the cell while Vex and Vax waited. He started to lead the way briskly down the hall, towards the end of the row of cells. Vex exchanged a look with Vax and then followed closely behind. 

“Thank you for getting me out of there,” the white-haired man said. “It’s not a place I would have chosen to stay, if I’d had any choice in the matter.” 

“I doubt it’s a place anyone would choose to stay,” Vex said. “No offense but you look like you need a bath-- badly.” 

The white-haired man chuckled. Once again it tugged something in Vex. “The warden kept his papers through here,” he said. “And I’ll be able to retrieve my weapons as well.” 

“Weapons?” Vex asked, suspicious. 

“If you broke in here, there’s probably more guards on the way,” the white-haired man said. He carefully opened the door to what appeared to be an office, furnished with several moldering bookshelves. “You might be a couple of very powerful Exalts, but I’d rather not trust my fate just to your skill.” 

Vex and Vax exchanged another look, Vax silently asking if Vex trusted this stranger and Vex shrugging as if to say, _‘I’m not sure but I think between us we could take him.’_

“You don’t call us anathema,” Vex said, peering at the man as he started going through the desk drawers. He opened a drawer and drew out a shortsword and a curved rod with a barrel at the end of some construction Vex had never seen. “Why not?” 

The white-haired man made a face that Vex couldn’t quite decipher. “Let’s just say I have some experience with the subject, and I don’t subscribe to Immaculate teachings.” He secured the strange device in his coat and stepped back from the desk. “Whatever papers you’re looking for should be in there.” 

Vax started going through the desk while Vex watched their unexpected ally closely. 

“You have some experience with the subject?” Vex repeated the white-haired man’s phrasing, cocking her eyebrow at him. “What’s that?” 

“A very long story,” the man said. “One I’d be all too happy to tell once we get out of here, and have a bit more time.” 

Vex frowned, wondering if she should trust that. But he was right, they were working on a bit of a time crunch. “Well then, can we at least know your name?” 

The white-haired man held out his hand to shake. “Percival Fredrickstein von Mussel Klossowski de Rolo III,” he said. 

Vex reached out and shook the hand of Percival Fredrickstein von Mussel Klossowski de Rolo III. When her hand touched his, a tangible shock ran up her arm. From the surprised look in Percival’s eyes, he felt it too. 

“Seems like nothing about you is short, Percy,” Vex said. That earned a quick smile from him, and Vex found herself smiling back, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. “I’m Vex and that’s my brother Vax, and we’ve got two more upstairs.” 

“Excellent,” Percy said. “Then let’s get out of here.”


End file.
